CHS coaches guide Ga.
All-Stars to winsThe Georiga All-Star boys' team came home
as the top winners in this weekend's action at the Southen Hoops
All-Star Classic in Lakeland, Fla.
CHS coach Rex Gregg was the head coach for the team, and Tiger
assistant Jimbo Stephenson made up part of the staff that saw
Georgia beat South Carolina and Florida.
Teams from Georgia, Florida, Tennessee and South Carolina will
converge on Florida Southern College in Lakeland, Fla., for a
two-day tournament.
Georgia opened the tournament with a 113-88 win over Florida
Friday night. Mitchell-Baker's Gabriel Lee and Westside-Macon's
Gerald Fitch led Georgia with 24 points each. Carrolton's Stephen
Thomas added 21 points and 10 rebounds.
Georgia finished off the tournament Saturday with a 106-100 win
over South Carolina. Georgia trailed 50-47 at halftime, but outscored
South Carolina 59-50 in the second half to take the win.
Fitch led the scoring again with 24 points, 13 boards and five
assists. All eight players scored eight points or better.
Many of Georgia's team members have already signed with major
colleges around the southeast.
Other members of the team include Chris Daniels, Monroe-Albany;
Kyle Davis, Early County; Antonio Hayes, Mitchell-Baker; Brendon
Plavich, Dalton; Gerald Riley, Baldwin; Demetrius Smith, Calloway;
Stephen Thomas, Carrolton; and Joe Weubring, Marist.

Summer basketball camps
under way for Leopards
Banks County High School kicked off the summer basketball season
this week by participating in area team camps.
The boys' team is hosting two legs of the Jackson County team
camp this week, while the girls are at Madison County high and
middle schools. Banks County will host boys' games at its new
gym and its old gym, since Jefferson's gym is unavailable due
to renovations.LADY LEOPARDS
The Banks County girls are one of 11 teams competing in Danielsville.
The Lady Tigers began by playing Oglethorpe County, Winder-Barrow,
Ath-ens Christian and Nathanael Greene Academy. Other teams in
the Madison County girls' camp this summer include: Stephens
County, Commerce, Jackson County, Prince Avenue and Greene County.BOYS' CAMP
Boys' mini-games are also being played at co-hosts Jackson County
Comprehen-sive and Commerce high schools.
A total of 14 teams will be involved in the camp, including:
Buford, Madison County, West Hall, Monroe Area, Wes-leyan, Rabun
County, Franklin County, Hart County, Gainesville, Clarke Central
and Winder-Barrow.

Postseason under way at JCPRD
The Jackson County Parks and Recreation Department is currently
holding its end-of-season tournaments in a number of baseball
and softball divisions.
The most contested division looks to be 7- and 8-year-old boys'
baseball, the only division with two undefeated teams during
the regular season. A pair of Jefferson teams ­ the Tigers
and Mariners ­ finished the regular season with perfect 10-0
marks. Nicholson's Diamondbacks and Maysville's Indians, both
7-2-1, are looking to play spoiler against the two top teams.
Not far behind are the South Jackson Orioles and West Jackson
Rangers, both at 7-3. The division's championship game is slated
for Monday at 7 p.m., in Hoschton.
In the 9- and 10-year-old boys' league, Jefferson's Marlins stand
as the JCPRD's only other undefeated team, at 10-0. The South
Jackson Diamondbacks are hot on their tails, at 9-1. Also looking
to make some waves in the tournament are a pair of Nicholson
teams, the 7-2-1 Giants and 7-3 Cubs. Jefferson's Pirates (6-3-1)
and Orioles (6-4) are looking for underdog wins. The 9-10 boys'
final will be held at Benton Elementary Monday at 7 p.m.
Final standings were tight in the 9-10 girls' softball group,
with the Jefferson Reds, Maysville Cardinals and West Jackson
Astros all knotted at 7-3. Close behind were the West Jackson
Devil Rays, at 6-3-1. The 9-10 softball final is scheduled for
6:30 p.m. Saturday, at Jefferson field number three.
In other boys' action, the 11-12 North Jackson Hillcats (8-2)
hope to continue their winning ways against four other teams
with winning marks. Nicholson's 13-14 Mudcats (7-2-1) led their
final division standings by only a half-game over the 7-3 Muck
Dogs from West Jackson. Both tournaments will conclude Saturday
at 7 p.m., the 11-12 at Jefferson field four, and 13-14 at the
Lamar Murphy Park complex.
Nicholson's Indians (7-8 girls) led their pack at 8-1-1, and
hope to make Saturday's 6 p.m. final on Jefferson field two.
The 11-12 West Jackson girls' Lookouts (7-2) will be the favorite
to reach that division's 6 p.m., Saturday final. The 11-12 girls
are the only division featuring a double-elimination tournament.

Home not so sweet
for Crane in Lanier Slim Jim race
Pendergrass' Ryan Crane was looking to make a big-time run on
rookie of the year points Saturday at Lanier National Speedway
in the NASCAR Slim Jim All Pro Series.
Coming into the race, Crane had logged numerous hours on the
Lanier asphalt in recent weeks, testing Goodyear tires. Everything
was in the 17-year-old's favor.
Everything, that is, except luck.
After qualifying 20th, Crane powered his Fresh Frozen Foods Monte
Carlo to 10th just before the midpoint of the 200-lap All Pro
race. The night was not a good one for rookies. Rookie points
leader Casey Yunick pitted on lap 90, and contenders Billy Mills,
Greg Pope and John Gerstner all either spun or were involved
in accidents, putting them at least a lap down. Crane looked
to be well on his way to earning the Moroso Performance Parts
Rookie of the Race award.
Crane maneuvered his ride smoothly through 95 laps, including
getting by a pair of near-misses that could have ended his night.
On lap 95, Crane was third in a line of bumper-to-bumper cars
flying around the track at nearly 100 miles per hour on the straightaways.
The lead car in the pack spun coming out of turn four, and the
second car slammed the brakes, trying to avoid a collision. All
three cars suffered damage in the incident, with Crane's the
most serious.
Though the damage seemed to be only cosmetic at first, Crane's
car began to overheat within the next few laps. In the pits,
his crew found that Crane's bumper bar had rammed into his air
intake, closing off air to his radiator. Crew members worked
frantically to saw it away from the frame, but broke three saw
blades in the process. When Crane finally reentered the race,
he was dozens of laps down and behind a number of rookie contenders.
He limped home to a 27th-place finish, completing 147 of the
200 laps.
"We were all running real close," Crane said after
the race. "When some guy checks up in front of you like
that, there's not much you can do. And of course, it's going
to happen in front of the hometown crowd."
The night was not a total loss, as Crane's fourth-place finish
among rookies moved him into third in the season rookie standings.
Yunick padded his rookie points lead, and will not likely be
caught for at least two more races. The series has 11 races remaining
in its 17-event schedule, including Friday's inaugural race at
Cincinnati's Kentucky Speedway.

Rangers grab Major League
title in 2-0 pitching battle
Zeb's Rangers pitcher Ben Jeffers, who nearly pitched a perfect
game last week, outlasted mound opponent Chaz Perry Saturday
in the Major League championship game as he was nearly flawless
again. The Ranger ace went six innings, striking out 17 batters,
while surrendering a single hit, walking none and allowing no
runs in his squad's 2-0 victory over the Armour Plumbing and
Well Lumberjacks.
In fact, Jeffers only allowed Lumberjacks to put two balls in
play during his stellar effort-a single by Jesse Compton and
a groundout to first base by Perry.
While Perry didn't match Jeffers' numbers, he turned out a solid
performance nevertheless as the Lumberjack starter went five
innings and struck out nine while surrendering seven hits, two
runs and no walks.
The Rangers, who upped their record to 14-2 in claiming the championship,
were led offensively by Jason Wynn and Chris Ford, who both came
up big with RBIs in the contest. Wynn accounted for the Rangers'
first run when he singled in Jeffers in the first inning. Ford
then gave his squad an insurance in the third inning as he ripped
a triple to bring home Drew McCurley
Also picking up hits for the Rangers were Jeffers and Zeb Osley,
who collected two singles each and McCurley who had a single.